Tabtor Math

Teacher Overview

Tabtor Math app is more than an app. It is one of the most exciting math learning programs we reviewed, with a great potential of becoming a service that will be easily adopted by students, teachers, educational institutions and parents. The student will get unlimited digital math assignments, personalized to his needs, and a personal teacher that will alter his learning programme accordingly. The app’s data collection offers a personalized learning experience that focuses on what the creators call ‘Point of Learning’, where students will be challenged and will get the support they need in order to improve their math skills at critical stages in learning. It receives our EAS Recommended status and a 5 star EAS Certification.

Teacher Review

Tabtor Math app works on a subscription basis and offers a personalized service for active math learning. Learning should be personalized but teachers don’t have the time or the right tools to offer an individual learning experience. And we all learn at a different pace, so it is important not to be left behind and the learning path you’re on requires to be adapted to your needs and capability. This is exactly what Tabtor does with the help of its mobile learning platform. At the moment the app works only on iPad devices but will probably be scalable to other devices and operating systems in the future (Android, Windows 8). We tested the Student app and the Teacher app.

The student app - how does it work?

You first have to create the student’s profile where you will be asked to add their date of birth (used to determine age and skill level) and specify what grade they’re in. The next step is to complete the diagnostic test that will allow the personal teacher to tailor and assign math exercises based on your level of proficiency. Before taking the placement test you will have the chance to practice on a sample assignment. The diagnostic test is very useful because is key to determine the appropriate math assignments that need to be assigned.

We liked that the design of the app has the feel of a formal learning environment. Once you open your assignment (usually formed of 30 questions) the screen transforms in a piece of paper on which you can write to work out what the answer is (you will have to encourage students to use a stylus pen and adapt the palm rest area to their needs). In order to move to the next question you have to enter your answer from the right side panel where you have a numerical keyboard. It’s very straightforward and won’t need constant guidance either from a teacher or parent. The questions are very clear and accurate and you are offered an immediate feedback whether your answer is right or wrong. If you answer incorrectly you get to try one more time. You can also consult a short video tutorial that can assist you if you’re having problems. You can skip a question if you don’t know the answer and return to it later with the back and forward button. To ‘pause’ the test you have to press the top button next to the ‘forward’ button and a new screen will open where you can easily check how many un-attempted questions you have left, how many you answered correctly and where you can also decide to submit your assignment as it is if you don’t want to continue.

The page where you can see all your assignments is divided into three areas: ‘Your Next Worksheets’, ‘Submitted worksheets’ and ‘Instructor Feedback’. Once you finish with an assignment you can review your answers under ’Submitted worksheets’ where you can check what the correct answers were, how much time you needed to finish the test and how many points you earned. Your math assignment is then sent to your personal instructor who reviews on the same day. You are then sent a workout summary with the feedback for each wrong answer and a nice message describing how you did and which math concepts you need more practice with.

So after finishing two assignments, the ‘Simple addition’ and ‘Missing Numbers in Subtraction Statements’, we were impatiently waiting for our review. We got it on the same day after a couple of hours and were pleasantly surprised to see how concise and clear the reviewing system is. You get written explanations, just like in a classroom, on how to work out the answer and with some questions you even get a personalized explanatory audio note that starts with your name. We were very impressed!

We recommend daily practice and the completion of at least one assignment a day. New math assignments are assigned based on your performance and results in previous assignments. Each completed exercise is awarded with gamification points and at the end of every month students are eligible to get a gift card or other rewards depending on their scores. To get the most out of your experience with Tabtor don’t forget to watch the video tutorials that will explain new concepts and demonstrate solutions and also use the “flag” option where you can ask a question regarding exercises. The app let’s you know that there is someone behind it that is concerned of your progress and the are always there to support your learning.

The Teacher Account

With such a well-though-out concept and execution, Tabtor Math will accelerate student learning and we think educational institutions will get excited with this new educational technology platform. Teachers will see Tabtor as a tool to track students’ progress and to generate individual reports. And an immediate effect of using such a platform in schools is that students will be able to complete and submit their homework exercises more easily through the app. No more ‘my dog chewed up my homework’ excuses!

The Teacher side of the app looks similar to the student profile. The assignments you receive are organised in two folders: ‘Inbox’ and ‘Reviewed’. The same simple and clean layout is used, from where you can easily review how your students are getting on with their assignments. The worksheets are corrected automatically, but as a teacher you can analyse each of the questions: see for how long the students focused on each question, understand what they did at the point of learning, add your comments and even record an audio message. You can then mark the assignment as reviewed, just like the way teachers do it on physical paper, and send your comments to the student. In case you are happy with the automatic review and don’t have anything to add you can easily file it under ‘Reviewed’ and send it without any comments.

Teachers will be able to offer the extra support to students who need more attention and also identify gifted students easily. We can see it used as a tool for taking a test or completing an assignment in the classroom or as a homework companion. Tabtor Math will save teachers time and will allow them to have a clear view and maximize every student’s potential.

We think the Tabtor Math (https://tabtor.com/) has all going for it and is a well balanced platform for learning maths. The app is available for a two-week free trial if you’re not a Tabtor member or for free if you subscribe to the monthly membership. As we previously said, the app delivers a math learning program for both private users and schools. For schools they have different pricing structures that can be checked on the Tabtor Math website, but the price of the math program for the individual consumer starts at $49.99 per month. The price is a clear recognition of the work that has been put into this app and we are awarding Tabtor Math with the EAS Recommended Status and a 5 star EAS Certification.

Screenshots

Developer Description

Once you register, you can download the app from the appstore to access the math assignments.

Tabtor is an innovative subscription service for active learning for K-6 grade Maths. You get unlimited digital worksheets tailored to the student's needs and an instructor is assigned to your child who acts as their personal coach. This Tabtor mobile application delivers the best learning experience anywhere, anytime.

Get the free app as a part of your Tabtor membership. If you are not a Tabtor member, you can get a two-week free trial at www.tabtor.com and start learning immediately on your iPad.

How does Tabtor work?
- Tabtor membership gives you access to unlimited digital worksheets for one low monthly price for one student (subject to fair usage and assessment of submitted worksheets)
- Every worksheet is accompanied with a video tutorial to assist in the moments of frustration
- With your membership, an instructor is assigned for each student
- Student starts with a diagnostic test
- Student gets instant grading on every question and worksheet submitted
- Instructors provide personalized feedback, daily or as-needed, based on the worksheets submitted by the students and accordingly assign worksheets
- You get weekly updates on the performance of your children
- In addition, you get a weekly session with an instructor to review the performance of your children and for your child to talk with the instructor
- Curriculum is aligned with CCSS (Common Core). Grades covered: Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grades. 7th and 8th grade content will be released soon.